What's your sewing space like? Is it perfectly equipped, spacious and all tidy, or is it improvised, messy and mobile? How do you envision your perfect sewing nook, and are you lucky enough not to share this space with anyone else? Does a beautiful space motivates you to work, do you have problems focusing on sewing when working in a disorganized environment?

I've been wanting to write about my sewing and pattern drafting space for a while. However, it's usually the messiest part of my flat, so I waited for a convenient moment when the studio is in its best to snap some photos. Well, D. installed a couple of shelves today, where I put a bunch of various little things I use wile working, that can make a hell of a mess if they're not neatly packed on their place.

I have to warn you, I live in a tiny apartment, of only 323 square feet. The flat has two rooms: a bedroom of around 80 square feet, and a slightly bigger living room / dining room / kitchen. When we moved in the small room served as a keeping room for all sorts of things we didn't have a place for. Meanwhile I sewed on a dining table, and moved my sewing machine around when D. and I wanted to have a meal. This was especially difficult during the TR Masterclass, as I sewed non-stop every day, for three months. After a while I gave up on moving the machine and left it on the table, while D. and I had our meals on a couch, keeping plates in our laps. Although D. didn't complain at all, I was sick of it!

It was then that we realized the small room was too small to put a double bed and a closet into it, so we decided to make it my sewing space. We chose to sleep in a living room, on a couch (we were lucky to find a cozy one). Also, we managed to keep the living room unloaded from the heavy furniture, by placing a large closet into the small room. You won't see the closet on the pictures - the room is so narrow, making it impossible to photograph the closet from any angle.

I'll admit it - my sewing space is all improvised, but organized the best I could do it. I work on a tiny table, whose dimensions are around 60 cm x 95 cm. I usually cut my fabrics on a floor, since there is not enough space on the desk. When writing sewing articles, the process usually includes taking photos after each stitch is sewn. As I don't have two working surfaces I could use, I keep a large piece of cardboard on my ironing board and use it as a surface for taking pictures on. This, off course, means that I have to move the cardboard on and of the pressing board.

I keep my machine / machine case under the table, on a piece of felt. The felt helps moving the machine around, without the need to actually lift it and stress my back, while saving the flooring from scratching.

Right to the table I keep a shelf with my Burda Style magazines. I made the shelf using a piece of plank and cardboard. It has wheels to make it easier to move around. I keep a box with fabrics and pattern of the project I'm working on on top of the shelf. It also has a small trash bin for all the threads and fabric scraps I throw away while sewing.

I have a couple of small shelves installed on a wall. I keep my sewing tools and my pens on them. D. and I made the shelves ourselves. We applied an adhesive wallpapers to them and installed them to the wall. I use all sorts of boxes and cans for storing my pens and other tools.

I bought the toolbox a few years ago, when a number of thread spools outgrew the size of the shoe box I had used previously. I remember how happy I was when I bought it, as if I had brought a treasure coffin to the house :). I keep all my basic notions in there - pins, needles, chalks, threads, scissors and other items. I've earmarked a bigger and prettier toolbox recently and I plan to buy it soon. What a joy! ;)

Off course, there's also Sara, my dummy. When I'm not working on a new pattern it usually serves as a coat stand. D. gave her a name - when I bought it, it was just a dummy to me, without a name. I told D. how many seamstresses give their dummies names and treat them almost as persons, which I could not understand at the time. Out of a joke, D. gave her a name, and we've never called her a DUMMY, but Sara ever since. When we scratch on it by accident while passing by, we always comment that Sara is attacking us and we tell stories about it as if she was a part of our family. People are silly sometimes, aren't they? Well, I think I get now the connection seamstresses have with their dummies.

I've written all this to show you you don't have to have ideal conditions in order to do what you like. As long as you have the willing to work, you'll always find a way to nurture your hobby. I'm lucky enough to have a hubby like D. with whom I can easily agree on how to decorate our apartment, and who completely supports me in my work.